Lofoten Islands hotel, Eliassen Rorbuer - traditional fisherman's cottages!

Our unique experience in a traditional Norwegian fishing village!

The most authentic Norwegian experience on Lofoten Island is waiting for you at the Lofoten Islands hotel Eliassen Rorbuer.

We love finding unique and authentic accommodation. It’s something of a skill. We search for something with a connection to the past to help us experience the country and location and we definitely found the perfect place for this experience at Eliassen Rorbuer. A rorbuer is an old cottage that was used as accommodation for fishermen. They are used today and some have been converted in to accommodation, we longed to stay in one.

The beautiful red fisherman's cottages at Eliassen Rorbuer

Location of the Lofoten Islands hotel

Tucked into the tiny town of Hamnoy is Eliassen Rorbuer. It is the oldest fishing village in Norway and is situated right on the water. The Lofoten Islands are spread out sand make a great roadtrip! Hamnoy is an easy 120km drive from Svolvær or you can take a bus from Svolvær the main town on the Lofoten Islands.

The Property at Lofoten Islands hotel, Eliassen Rorbuer

This magical place is spread out along the coastline of Hamnoy. The little red fisherman’s cottages are really pretty, sitting dotted around the harbour.
The reception area makes for an easy check in and out, they even have their own app to help you do so and find your room.
Rooms are accessed via personal key codes provided to you when your check in date approaches. This makes arriving so simple! Everything can be managed online so arrival is easy and stress free!

Details in the office at Eliassen Rorbuer

Arriving and parking nearby our cottage we grabbed our bags. We had already received our entry details and so were able to head over and settle in. We were so excited to walk through the little cottages and find ours right on the front corner of the Eliassen Rorbuer property.
The property is quite large, there are many nooks and crannies you can wander along soaking up the views of the wate. There is a bakery onsite, Lofoten Bakery and a restaurant.

Our Cottage at Lofoten Islands hotel, Eliassen Rorbuer

The external parts of the cottages are original. Built in 1890 for fishermen’s accommodaiton during the world’s biggest annual cod fishing event. The interiors are all been renovated in a quality, modern rustic style. Wooden beams line the walls and roof. The furniture is plush and cosy in oceanic blues reflecting the environment.

We stayed in a waterfront superior one-bedroom cottages. Our little bedroom tucked in a quiet room just perfect for a blissfully deep sleep. The bed was comfortable and warm, a dream to relax in after such a busy day exploring the beautiful Lofoten Islands.

The beautiful red fisherman's cottages at Eliassen Rorbuer. We stayed in a one bedroom waterfront cottage

The fully equipped kitchenette with microwave, hob, fridge and utensils was perfect for our self catering needs.

The roomy bathroom with heated floors was perfect to warm up with a shower after watching the northern lights.

Our experience at Lofoten Islands hotel, Eliassen Rorbuer

The lounge room was incredibly spacious and the floor to ceiling windows held the most spectacular views. Sitting right on the Reinefjorden water they overlook the whole bay, town and mountains beyond.

Obsesed with the views from our waterfront superior one-bedroom cottage and decided to go further out to see the whole area. We walked back to the road and found the famous viewpoint. We took a selfie and Mike sent the drone up to take a look. It was a little overcast as a snow storm was approaching making it look so dramatic!

While it is the most famous spot, we couldn’t help but think our little cabin had easily the best view. We decided that we wanted to spend as much time as possible there and planned to spend the night in.

We drove 3 minutes back over the bridge to the nearby Coop grocery store to pick up some supplies for dinner.
Armed with our groceries we snuggled into the lounge with a drink and chatted for hours.

We cooked up some pasta and sat in front of the windows to watch the intermittent snow storms. The sight was magical! The mountains and vast expanse of water with snow blowing across it was enchanting.

Sitting there enjoying a drink and our meal while watching the brave fisherman head out in the storm was pure magic. We couldn’t believe how great it was and were so grateful that we had the opportunity to experience this moment.

Northern lights at Eliassen Rorbuer

The sun set and the sky turned dark, just as we started to prepare for bed we thought we should check in case lady aurora (the northern lights) decided to show up.
Lucky we did as she was dancing across the skies!
We threw our warm clothes back on and rushed out in to the cold night air. Around the front of our cottage, just next to the sea we watched the Aurora Borealis dance across the skies for hours. The dramatic mountains in the background lit up and we took as many photos as we could until our frozen hands begged us to return to our warm cottage.

Elation hit as we walked inside! The aurora can be finicky so capturing it easily from your accommodation is rare. We felt like the luckiest people in the world! We fell into a deep sleep of contentment and woke to a perfect Norwegian sunrise.

This was a blissful stay, one that we will never forget. From the pure contentment of our cosy cottage, to the perfect location, views and finally the aurora dancing for what felt like only us.

Final thoughts

We truly loved our time at Eliassen Rorbuer, and highly recommend it for your Lofoten Islands trip. If you are looking for accommodation near Reine where you can easily explore all of the eastern areas of the Lofoten Island then this is the perfect hotel for you!
If you want to book our cottage (and we highly recommend it!) Just ask them for the cottage that Passport Nomads blog had and they’ll help you out. Pass on a big hello from us, we can’t wait to return someday soon!

Although we were guests of Eliassen Rorbuer all opinions are our own, we thoroughly enjoyed our time here and already dream of coming back to experience the summer in this incredible destination.